AMRITA 


THE 


Legend  of  the  Sapphire 

Illustrations  and  Text  by 

CARLO  DE  FORNARO 


Published  by  MARCUS  & CO. 
Jewelers 

544  Fifth  Avenue 
New  York 


AMRITA 


THE 

Legend  of  the  Sapphire 


Illustrations  and  Text  by 

CARLO  DE  FORNARO 


Published  by  MARCUS  & CO. 
Jewelers 

544  Fifth  Avenue 
New  York 


Copyright,  1902,  by 
Carlo  de  Fornaro 


Mrs.  Edith  B.  JVattenberg 


Whose  shadow  is  immortality,  whose  shadow  is  death  ! 

— Rig  Veda. 


IVE  thousand  Kalpas 
ago,  the  Devas  and 
their  archenemies  the 
Asuras  declared  a truce. 

During  several  Kalpas 
they  had  been  battling 
tenaciously  and  bitterly 
for  a sip  of  the  Amrita, 
that  godly  drink  which  gave  immortality,  health 
and  power,  which  had  the  strength  of  Yama,  was 
as  inebriating  as  the  Infinite,  and  more  blissful 
than  Nirvana. 


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^OCs. 


Now,  when  the  victorious  Devas  reached  the 
haunt  of  the  Ghandarves,  who  watched  over  the 
Amrita,  they  learned  to  their  great  consternation 
that  not  a single  drop  was  left ; and  that  the  great 
Indra  and  Varuna  having  surreptitiously  imbibed 
more  than  was  good  for  them,  were  consequently, 
royally  tipsy,  and  were  to  be  found  drowsing  in 
the  cool  shadow  of  the  Himalayas. 

They  determined  to  chastise  these  arrogant 
Rulers  and  devised  several  penalties ; but  they 
soon  saw  the  futility  of  their  rage  ; how  could 
they  inflict  any  bodily  harm  on  immortals,  to  say 
nothing  of  killing  them  ? 

According  to  the  suggestion  of  the  great  ser- 
pent Sesha  the  only  vengeance  worthy  and  capable 
of  affecting  them  was  the  stealing  of  the  secret  of 
the  Amrita,  which  at  this  period  had  been  tasted 
by  two  gods  only. 

As  they  could  not  obtain  the  secret  by  violence, 
they  resorted  to  cunning,  and  after  careful  plan- 
ning, one  of  the  Devas  approached  Indra,  who  was 


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lying  indecorously  prostrate,  while  the  others  were 
peeping  from  behind  some  rocks. 

“ O Incomparable  Indra,  I humbly  bring 
Thee  a message  from  Indrani ! ” He  shook  him 
gently,  repeating  the  phrase. 

“ My  wife  . . . yes  . . . and  what  may  it 
be  ? ” ...  mumbled  Indra,  glancing  with  half 
closed  eye-lids  at  the  Deva. 

“ She  begs  Thee  to  repeat  the  recipe  for  the  con- 
coction of  the  Amrita  and  wishes  Thee  to  hasten, 
she  being  in  great  need  of  it.” 

“Amrita  . . . oh,  yes,”  slowly  uttered  Indra. 
“ Churn  the  great  Ocean  . . . with  Mount  Man- 
dara  . . . use  also  . . . Sesha  . . . and  sing 
. . . sing  . . . Amrita  . . . Amri  . . . Am 
...”  and  the  rest  was  murmured  in  sleep. 

But  the  Devas  were  well  satisfied  and  prepared 
themselves  for  the  prodigious  task.  However, 
something  had  been  overlooked,  for  they  dis- 
covered that  it  took  twice  their  number  to  churn 
the  great  Ocean. 


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1 


Am  _ ri . la  Am  _ ri  _ ta  Am  _ ri  _ la 


That  is  the  reason  they  offered  a truce  to  the 
Asuras,  who  willingly  accepted  on  condition  that 
they,  too,  should  taste  of  the  Amrita. 

Thereupon  they  used  Mount  Mandara  as  a 
churning  stick,  wrapping  round  it,  rope  like,  the 
great  serpent  Sesha.  They  moved  the  Mount  to 
and  fro,  whirling  it  vertiginously,  the  Devas  pull- 
ing at  the  serpent's  tail  and  the  Asuras  at  its  head, 
and  churned  and  churned,  while  the  Ocean  seethed 
and  foamed  and  thundered  and  sputtered  egre- 
giously,  uproariously,  as  the  great  Sesha  went  back 
and  forth  and  as  they  intoned  in  a sing-song  : 

“ Amrita  . . . Amrita  . . . Amrita.  . . ! ” 
“Whose  shadow  is  Immortality, 

“ Whose  shadow  is  Death  ! 

“ Give  us  thy  powerful  draught 
“ To  encircle  the  Infinite  ! 

“Amrita  . . . Amrita  . . . Amrita!” 

Then  they  stopped  for  a rest,  mopping  their 
brows  and  watching  the  result  of  their  labors. 

The  Ocean  had  now  dwindled  almost  to  shal- 
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lowness;  they  let  it  ferment  until  they  were  to 
drink,  still  chanting  monotonously  : “ Amrita 

. . . Amrita  . . . Amrita.  . . ! ” 

They  lay  prone  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  a wide 
ellipse,  the  Devas  on  one  side,  the  Asuras  on  the 
other,  and  drank  and  drank,  to  their  fullest  capa- 
city, slowly,  voluptuously,  lulling  themselves  to 
sleep. 

When  Indra  had  slept  his  due,  he  was  sur- 
prised by  the  all-pervading  silence,  which  seemed 
to  him  abnormal  and  strange,  and  he  was  wonder- 
ing what  mischief  the  Devas  and  Asuras  might  be 
up  to,  as  they  had  stopped  quarrelling. 

“ May  it  be  . . . oh,  may  it  be  that  they  are 
all  dead  ! ” mused  the  Ruler. 

He  soon  discovered  the  cause  and  the  effect, 
and  at  the  sight  of  the  sleeping  motley  of  Devas 
and  Asuras  his  anger  rose  to  white  heat  and  he 
forged  the  first  shaft  of  lightning  and  sent  it  roar- 
ing among  the  snoring  neo-immortals. 

“ By  the  beard  of  Yama,  I forgot,  mur- 


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\ 

% 


mured  Indra;  “they  are  invulnerable  now,  the 
wretches!  ” 

But  the  lightning  had  not  been  sent  in  vain  ; 
Manu,  the  first  Man,  was  born  from  its  fire,  and 
was  groping  around  naked  and  lonely  in  search 
of  a companion. 

So,  in  great  pity  and  compassion  Indra  squeezed 
some  blood  out  of  his  heart,  breathing  into  it  the 
life  of  Woman. 

It  was  a beautiful  apparition,  and  so  startled 
and  spellbound  was  Manu  that  he  knelt  in  front 
of  her  in  admiration  and  love. 

In  the  meantime  Varuna  had  joined  Indra  and 
was  watching  the  couple.  “ Observe  and  see, 
Indra;  she  will  ask  of  him  the  Unattainable  and 
then  they  will  quarrel,”  he  whispered. 

And  Woman  spoke:  “ O Manu,  give  me  im- 
mortality ! ” 

Manu  looked  helplessly  around,  up  to  the  sky, 
and  then  suddenly  dashed  toward  the  bottom  of 
the  Ocean,  searching  for  the  Amrita. 


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And  truly  at  the  very  bottom  of  a valley,  there 
lay  one  solitary  drop. 

It  had  coagulated,  hardening  into  a transparent 
substance,  blue  as  the  deepest  ocean  and  clear  as 
the  sky  in  springtime. 

Picking  up  the  gem  he  brought  it  to  Woman, 
who  admired  and  played  with  it,  trying  to  shape 
it  round  her  fingers  and  neck. 

And  Indra  murmured  to  Varuna  : “ Vanity, 

verily,  thou  art  immortal/’ 

And  Woman  spoke  again  ; “ O Manu,  but  will 
this  give  Immortality?”  Whereupon  Manu  looked 
askance  and  questioningly  at  Indra,  who  answered : 

“ Thou  wert  born  from  the  fire  of  lightning  that 
was  sent  to  punish,  therefore  thou  canst  not  yet 
reach  immortality.  When  thou  hast  lived  thy 
time,  thou  shalt  go  back  to  Yama  and  then  rein- 
carnate according  to  thy  past  deeds  ; and  this  shall 
happen  as  many  times  as  there  are  drops  of  water 
in  the  ocean,  grains  of  sand  on  the  shore  and  stars 
in  the  heavens. 


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“ When  thou  hast  lived  and  suffered  and  shed 
all  desires,  then  shalt  thou  know  the  secret  of  the 
Amrita,  not  sooner.  Now  go  hence  and  be  con- 
tent with  hope.” 

And  they  wandered  along  disconsolate  and  sad, 
yet  happy  for  a glimpse  now  and  then  at  Immor- 
tality through  the  adamantine  and  imperishable 
Sapphire. 


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